Activism

My "Erin Brockovich" Moment

I have worked as a life insurance agent with Principal Mutual of Des Moines, Iowa since 1982.  One of the reasons I chose Principal was because it was a mutual insurance company and not a for-profit corporation.  A mutual insurance company works like a cooperative and is owned by its policyowners. I liked that. 

In 1997, Principal tried to become a publicly owned company and I watched this process closely.  Traditionally, when a mutual company goes public, it pays policy holders for their loss of ownership.  Principal wanted to take a shortcut and avoid this. I decided to block their efforts and pursue legal action.  Millions of Americans own insurance policies with mutual companies and the value of those companies is vast.  I knew that if one company got away with going public and not compensating policyholders, they would all follow. 

In the end, everything worked out beautifully.  All insurance policyholders’ rights were solidified in a separate lawsuit with a different insurance company.  I made sure that my lawyers were involved with that case because it went to court first.  My attorneys won the case and they made a lot of money.  Due to that victory, my lawyers did not charge me one penny for my case against Principal.

Once the the legal precedent was established, Principal did the right thing and compensated each and every existing policyholder with stock or cash.  I still work with Principal today.